A customer starts trusting brands only when they truly live-up to their promises. One thing is to have a belief and intent. The other thing is to put it in a communication or advertising format and live-up to this promise for life across touch points. The gap is in the experience and execution of this promise.
Here's a great example to learn from:
Saturn's love for customers is a folklore and much written about. Here's a different story about Saturn that amazed me totally.
One day, a worried father called-up a Saturn dealer and told them his daughter's car had a break down and wanted some help. The dealership asked for all the details about him before they could send a service support team. On checking the details, they figured out that the car was a Honda! When the customer service department told him about this, he said " You are the car company that cares for people and I want you to help me now ".
The guys at the dealership picked her up, towed her Honda car and brought her back safely. That's to me a true character of the Saturn brand.
Some key questions that can help drive this belief:
- Does your brand have a character?
- Does your character make a difference to his/her business?
- How do we take the character of the brand across media?
- Do people have this philosophy in their DNA?
Many a times a belief in the philosophy is critical. Belief will lead to empathy and action, no matter what it takes to deliver it.